Letter: Two said ‘no’ to the insanity

I want to thank Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Congressman Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., for their votes against the increase to the debt ceiling. The push by supporters of this measure was for a “clean” increase without a lot of other provisions tied to it.

At first glance, that seems to make sense. There shouldn’t be a lot of politically motivated or unrelated issues tied to such an important vote. In reality, however, a “clean” increase means that Washington is just going to be borrowing even more money without taking any steps to slow the growth of spending or make needed reforms to programs that continue to add to our long-term debt.

The fact that the president has repeatedly refused to even negotiate on this point shows just how lacking in leadership he is. During his first campaign, he opposed any increases in the debt ceiling and called our total national debt at the time ($9 trillion) “irresponsible” and “un-American.” Yet under his watch, the total debt has shot up to more than $17 trillion. And now he wants to spend even more? Without even taking a few common-sense steps to offset the increase? How much longer does the president think we can go on spending money we don’t have?

Enough is enough. Congress and the president need to work together to find ways to help the economy grow and reduce spending in order to avoid ever having to raise the debt ceiling in the future. Thank you, Sen. Hoeven and Congressman Cramer, for standing up to the insanity.